Parkinsons Disease from a Biological Psychological Point of View - Case Study Example

 Biological psychology is the subfield of psychology and psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. Humans generally serve as experimental subjects in biological psychology experiments and research. Experiments are undertaken in subjects when the nervous system of the organism under study is temporarily or permanently altered. Biological psychology deals with mental processes and behaviors like sensation and perception, motivated hunger, control of movement, learning and memory, sleep and emotions (Wikipedia). Biological psychology also contributes to medical disorders. This field of study has contributed important therapeutic data on a variety of conditions and one such condition is Parkinson’s disease. This paper will discuss Parkinson’s disease (PDP from a biological psychological point of view. PD is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by slow movement (bradykinesia), muscle rigidity and usually starts with tremors (Brown, 2002). The clinical symptoms become apparent only after more than 80 percent of the dopaminergic cells within the substantia nigra are lost. Excessive muscle contraction appears due to insufficient formation and action of dopamine (Wikipedia1). Secondary symptoms include high cognitive dysfunction. PD is also called "primary parkinsonism" or "idiopathic PD" (meaning of no known cause). Most cases of Parkinsonism are idiopathic but some may result from drugs, genetic mutation or medical disorders. PD affects movements, mood, behavior, thinking and sensations. Tremors are the most well known and apparent symptoms and are unilateral at onset. Tremors manifest in the hands, lower lip, chin, and less often in the legs (Kenney & Gonsalez, 2005). The muscles become rigid and in combination with tremor this produces ‘cogwheel’ rigidity when the limb is passively moved. There is a loss of ability to perform alternating movements. Failure of postural reflexes leads to loss of balance and fall. Steps become shirt and the feet barely leave the ground. Patients skip even with small obstacles. Their neck and trunk become rigid as well. They develop a stooped, forward-flexed posture. Gait freezing may also occur which is characterized by inability to move the feet. Patients may also experience painful twisting muscle contractions. Speech quality becomes soft, hoarse or monotonous. Some even report the tongue becoming heavy. Non-motor causes of speech lead to decreased verbal fluency. There is also disturbance in comprehension of emotional content of speech and facial expression. Infrequent blinking and fatigue are also experienced by the patients. The brain disorder PD harms thinking, learning and other cognitive abilities. Impairments in procedural memory arise from basal ganglia malfunctions (SFN, 2007). Such patients have trouble learning skills. They are unable to perform complex functions or manipulate information in a short period of time in order to make a response. Cognitive functions have been found to be impaired due to dopamine overload. According to Kenney and Gonsalez, psychological disorders may manifest in those suffering from PD either as a result of the disease or as a side effect of the disease. The non-motor symptoms include occurrence of depression in most cases. Psychiatric disorders like depression are supposed to emotional reaction to the disease. Almost 40-50% patients are affected due to depression while anxiety disorders exist in about 30-50% cases. Research also suggests that non-pharmacological interventions are beneficial to the patients. Voluntary and involuntary motor responses are significantly slowed. Executive dysfunction may lead to dementia, hallucinations, paranoia and delusions. There may be memory loss or even insomnia. Dementia, which is distinguished by cognitive deficits and characterized by impairment of learning or memory, includes impaired language, praxis, object recognition, or executive functioning. Apathy, characterized by diminished motivation, emotional responsiveness or goal-directed behavior has also been found in about 25% of the PD patients. It is considered basically a reaction to the disease. A connection has also been found between PD and schizophrenia. While dopamine can control or reduce some of the symptoms, it has been found that most are psychiatric side effects to medications. Disturbances such as depression, anxiety, dementia, and apathy, are more disease than treatment related while psychosis and delusions are possible side effects of pharmacotherapy. The side effects of medication could include vivid dreams and nightmares, hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. The non-psychotic disorders as a result of medication include mania, hypomania, and changes in sexual behavior and sexual satisfaction. Day (2006) suggests that PD patients are three times more likely than non-sufferers to be afflicted by allergic rhinitis. This is an inflammatory nasal response to pollen and other airborne particles. Allergic diseases like hay fever may be linked to brain inflammation that hastens the onset of the neurodegenerative disorder which causes PD. Studies have shown that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs offered protection against PD which prompted neurologists to investigate the links between inflammatory conditions and PD. It has also been found that those who have experienced head injury are four times more likely to develop PD than others. If head trauma requires hospitalization the risk of PD increases eightfold while it is 11-fold in cases with severe head injuries. Various forms of treatment are either ongoing or under investigation. The most widely practiced treatment for speech disorders associated with PD is Lee Silverman Voice Treatment which focuses on increasing vocal loudness (Wikipedia1). Regular physical exercises like yoga, tai chi and dance can be beneficial to the patient for improving and maintaining mobility, flexibility and balance. Nutrients have been found to partially treat or slow down PD. A study on the practice of Qigong revealed that there was an improvement in motor and non-motor symptoms in patients who had undergone one hour of structured Qigong exercise per week in two 8-week blocks. Visualizing the flow of energy acts as an internal cue and helps improve movement. According to a report on Science Daily (2006), more than a million Americans suffer from Parkinson’s disease alone. Scientists have identified that a biological pathway when obstructed causes Parkinsons symptoms. They have been able to identify how to repair that pathway and restore normal neurological function. When a Parkinson’s related protein called alpha-synuclein was over-expressed in these cells, clumps of misshapen proteins gathered near the membrane and in many cases the cells either became sick or dead. Research suggests that if the genes, whose over-expression rescued the cell, could be identified, they would know how alpha-synuclein made them sick in the first place. When alpha-synuclein becomes mutated and clumps at the cell surface, it drags away a protein that helps transport between two cellular organelles. When proteins are blocked from navigating this route, the cell dies. The cell deaths can be averted by increasing the levels of this transport protein. Experiments on rats have proved that cell deaths cease and the neurons can be restored to normal health. This is the basis on which scientists are hoping to make a breakthrough in the treatment of PD. PD is not a fatal disease but it gets worse with time and the side effects of medication. In the later stages it may cause choking, pneumonia and fall may even lead to death. The progression of symptoms may take twenty years or more. Each individual differs and no fixed progression can be predicted. Mortality has significantly increased and longevity decreased in patients with PD. There is ongoing research and development in the field of PD with an understanding of the physiological, environmental, behavioral, and genetic manifestations. For the maintenance of psychological disorders training of health care practitioners are developed on how to work with patients with PD. Study of the dynamic causes, interactions and manifestations of the symptoms of PD helps the make progress towards control of the disease. References: Brown, I., (2002), Does Caffeine protect against Parkinson's disease? National and Food Science, Vol. 32 No. 6 pp. 227-230 Day, M., (2006), Link between Parkinson's and rhinitis revealed, 31 Jan 2007 Kenney, N., & Gonsalez, E., (2005), A Review of the Pathophysiology of Psychological Disorders in Persons with Parkinson’s Disease, 31 Jan 2007 SFN (2007), Parkinson's and Cognition, 31 Jan 2007 Science Daily (2006), Researchers Reverse Parkinson's Symptoms In Animal Models, 31 Jan 2007 Wikipedia (n.d.), Biological psychology, 31 Jan 2007 Wikipedia1 (n.d.), Parkinson's disease, Read More